The chief use for portable wall panel systems is dividing office space. A typical wall panel assembly utilizes a number of components to connect and support one panel to a second panel. Each panel requires an edge connector, usually a channel, and it is only after an edge channel has been connected that a panel may be attached to a post which links the separate panels in a non-load-bearing manner. A pair of such posts is then connected to a load bearing post. Thus, most panel-to-panel connections require two non-load-bearing posts and a load-bearing support post. Assemblies having a multitude of connecting components can be very costly to purchase and time-consuming to assemble. In addition, many times the connecting hardware is left visible, resulting in a less aesthetically pleasing structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,571,907 to DeFouw et al. shows a panel system having a double connector post suspension system. Brackets atop the posts anchor adjacent panels, as well as intersection posts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,698 to Morrison shows a panel system having a double connector post suspension system.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,971,182 to Donahue et al. and 4,104,838 to Hage et al. describe portable wall assemblies which require that panel members be fitted with a rectangular edge channel at each vertical side edge. Panel connections are made by inserting hook-type mounting clips, projecting from the upper and lower portions of the edge channels, into the interior of a support post. The support post may be round or square, but in either case the post contains cavities which receive the mounting clips of the edge channel. A connector plug or retainer in the top of the support post is manipulated. Flexible sealing inserts are wedged between the panels and the support post to provide privacy from one side of the assembly to the other.
Similar in construction to the above-described patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,762,116 to Anderson et al. and 3,877,191 to Munsey disclose panel assemblies in which each panel member insert must first be equipped with at least one non-load-bearing edge channel before the panel member may be attached to a support post. Once again, all panel-to-panel connections require two edge channels and a support post. The support post is a hollow tubular post having panel connector adaptors secured at each end to receive the hook-type mounting clips of an edge channel.
A problem found in the prior art is that a multiplicity of slotted linear structures had to be provided to support ancillary structures, such as shelves, bookcases, cantilevered surfaces and the like. Often, the load carried by these structures had to be laterally transferred to a support post. The resulting structure is mechanically unstable and not appreciably sturdy.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a strong mechanically stable support system for modular wall panels and ancillary structures cantilevered from the vicinity of the panels. It is a further object to provide a wall panel system which is aesthetically pleasing and is substantially without visible gaps between connecting components.